The Holistic Parrot by Leslie Moran
Where do you stand when it comes to microplastics in our food, water and environment and the single use plastic that you habitually use every day? If you’ve never really thought about it, well this month we’ll give you plenty to consider. And, in addition to the information on this topic that we provided you in February’s issue 325, we’ll keep the ideas for options and solutions rolling forward.
And for those of you just joining this conversation, a quick recap. Plastic is a material that, once created, never breaks down in the way that organic materials decompose. Instead, plastics continue to break into smaller and smaller particles, called microplastics and then into even smaller particles termed nanoplastics. These micro and nanoplastics have infiltrated every ecosystem of our planet. Our food, water, soil, the plants, even vegetables and the air all contain micro and nanoplastics. Since these plastic particles are everywhere, they are easily consumed by animals, birds and people. Microplastics can be shed from wear-and-tear on vehicle tyres, food and beverage containers, and clothing and textiles made from polyester or nylon.
Research has shown that microplastics can have adverse effects on the digestive tract, respiratory, endocrine, nervous and the immune system and reproductive tissues. In the lungs they can cause free radical damage, shortness of breath due to inflammation, fatigue and dizziness due to low blood oxygen levels.(1) For more details on the harmful effects of microplastics to you and your birds please see this column in issue 325.